false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1171121416m/87984.jpg 87984 2 At long last, almost ten years since his previous book, Mark Helprin returns with <I>The Pacific and Other Stories</I>, a collection of sixteen stories that display the remarkable scope, incomparable wit, and deft prose that have come to be his signature. A British paratrooper jumps into occupied territory; the 1958 New York Yankees gain an unexpected teammate in a puny, teenaged Hasidic Jew; a September 11th widow receives an astonishing gift from the contractor working on her new apartment&#151;these and other stories exhibit the constantly changing variety of the ocean itself, the peaks and troughs of life. Lighthearted, glittering fables are met with starker tales that sound the depths of sacrifice and duty. The Pacific and Other Stories is a resplendent, powerful collection of lasting substance and emotional import. 2190863 2004 The Pacific and Other Stories total:283|5:98|4:109|3:56|2:13|1:7| 283 1127 392 46 0 1 false false Mon Sep 04 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu Jul 17 07:44:02 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 17 07:47:34 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 1 false false Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Jun 12 20:51:46 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 20:15:55 -0700 2007
It took me weeks to slog through this, and here's why: Helprin is so full of shit we'd mistake him for a latrine if he were painted white and dropped on a campground. Maybe I'm just falling into the same wronghead...more...]]> 1 1 false false Mon Mar 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun May 20 05:34:27 -0700 2007 Mon Mar 30 13:27:08 -0700 2009
I've read six of the sixteen stories here, and can go no further: Good God, but the man overwrites. His work has always suffered from a sentimental, self-consciously "literary" quality—he does love to wax on about the light, and about notions of hono...more...]]> 5 1 false false Wed Feb 13 20:41:33 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 13 20:46:36 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 07 00:43:25 -0800 2008 Mon Oct 22 00:40:54 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 22 23:43:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:28:10 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:28:10 -0800 2009 Helprin, author of Ellis Island and A Winter's Tale, brings to this collection his usual deep look into life, love, and war in prose as "glassy and smooth as amber" (Los Angeles Times). Yet, written over two decades, these stories befuddled a few critics. Some praised Helprin's wise themes...

more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Jul 22 07:15:39 -0700 2008 Tue Jul 22 07:52:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 29 05:46:19 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 01 15:25:15 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 07 19:09:43 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 26 07:55:16 -0700 2007 The Pacific feel intellectually and even morally lazy. They are deliberately un-complex, presenting points without counterpoin...more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jun 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 10:03:38 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 04 15:48:31 -0700 2009
Overall enjoyable. Helprin, author of Winter's Tale and other novels and collections, is a precise, gifted writer. I've not read his novels but I can sense the talent for longer works in this collection. He is clearly worl...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Apr 28 19:00:17 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 13 11:34:20 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Fri Sep 05 12:59:08 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 05 13:15:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Aug 02 21:10:46 -0700 2008 Thu Jul 10 20:58:28 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 02 21:10:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Oct 23 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Oct 20 11:59:48 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 23 12:46:01 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jan 09 12:13:34 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 09 12:19:03 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jul 17 13:52:24 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 17 13:54:46 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Feb 02 21:13:51 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 03 16:18:03 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Thu Aug 17 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Mon Mar 16 11:34:57 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 16 11:38:05 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 14 17:16:58 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 10:23:24 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Jun 12 18:19:12 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 12 18:19:25 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=87984